CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Mike Thompson

Interview

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CABRERA: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you.

And Congressman Mike Thompson of California is with us now.

Obviously, Congressman, this is an issue that affects all Americans. But as a representative of California, let me ask you, do you think this action by Governor Newsom will have the desired impact on the supply chain bottleneck in your state?

REP. MIKE THOMPSON (D-CA): Well, I think everything will help.

The supply chain disruption is more than just one piece. It's a combination of things, not only in California, but around the world. So everybody is working hard to make sure we straighten this out. And we're making progress.

CABRERA: I spoke with the commerce secretary yesterday, who stressed just how important it was to get the president's economic and infrastructure bills passed to help with the labor shortage that's exacerbating this supply chain issue.

You and a group of others met with the president yesterday. How close are you all to a deal?

THOMPSON: I feel pretty good after the meeting yesterday. I think we're narrowing it down.

This -- we have gone through this period of negotiation. And that's what you do with major pieces of legislation. You work back and forth. And you figure out where the common ground is, where you can land on the policy that will get the votes that are necessary. And, as you know, we're working with a very, very narrow margin, both in the House and in the Senate.

So it's taken a little bit of time. It's an important bill. What is going to be in this bill is going to be incredibly important for the people of our country, for working families and for children, for our environment, and for our future.

CABRERA: Lauren Fox just outlined some of what's in, what's out. I know you care deeply about the climate crisis, but Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a fellow moderate, has been staunchly against the climate provisions in the big Build Back Better package.

He's pushed back on a carbon tax. He's been staunchly against the proposed $150 billion of incentives for power plants to use cleaner burning fuels to cut greenhouse gas emissions. If he's a no on that, can you get to a yes on the final package?

THOMPSON: Well, there's not a carbon tax provision in the bill, nor has there been.

What is in the bill is my GREEN Act, which is using the tax code to move us into renewable energy. And that is incredibly important. It is the is the main piece of President Biden's climate change agenda. And this is a bill that's passed the House. It's the biggest climate change bill that's ever passed the United States House of Representatives.

And I'm confident that that will be in the final bill, it will pass, it will be signed into law. And that will tee us up to meet the goals that President Biden has established, the goals that he wants to reach in regard to moving towards renewable energy and in regard to building our work force, growing jobs.

CABRERA: What makes you confident that the GREEN Act, those climate provisions you just outlined, will be in the final bill, given Joe Manchin's very public criticism of those climate provisions? And his pushback that he's made very clear would not garner his support if it were included?

REP. MIKE THOMPSON (D-CA): Senator Manchin hasn't said anything at all about the GREEN Act. His issue with other provisions that were in the bill. I feel confident we'll get this bill.

CABRERA: Another area that has been scaled back, paid family leave. It went from 12 weeks to four weeks.

It's worth noting that federal workers, like members of Congress, receive 12 weeks of paid leave. But there's no requirement right now in the private sector or the state or local governments.

In fact, in the year 2021, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't offer a national paid parental leave program.

You can't read the country's names but I'll put it up here on the graphic.

But when you look at this long list, it's just incredible, the visual here of how we stack up. The U.S. is all the way at the bottom with zero weeks. Estonia is at the top with eight weeks of paid parental leave.

Isn't it long past the time of catching up with the rest of the world?

THOMPSON: I think we need to do much more. I'm happy with whatever we get. It's an improvement over what we have now. And it's a statement of our values that we recognize this as important public policy. And if we don't get the number of weeks that we want, that some of us, myself included, are pushing for, to begin the process, to establish a set of weeks, will allow us to grow that in the out years.

CABRERA: Congressman Mike Thompson, thank you so much for being with us.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

CABRERA: I appreciate your time.

THOMPSON: My pleasure. Thank you.

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